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Leveled Reading
Has anyone heard of this? How does it work? How is it done in a classroom? How effective is it?
Leveled reading is part of a whole language approach. I think the idea is that before the kids can handle real literature they really need some beginner steps. Leveled books are books that gradually go from easy vocabulary and short sentences to longer books, more complicated sentences and vocabulary.
I think many of us here are opposed to the whole language approach as it does not teach many children to read. It assumes reading is a natural process like speech (couldn’t be farther from the truth), and that students will pick up or catch reading the way they do speech (also false). Some students will “get it”, but many others including totally non-ld learners will not learn how to read, as reading is a complex process.
Leveled reading is part of a whole language approach. I think the idea is that before the kids can handle real literature they really need some beginner steps. Leveled books are books that gradually go from easy vocabulary and short sentences to longer books, more complicated sentences and vocabulary.
I think many of us here are opposed to the whole language approach as it does not teach many children to read. It assumes reading is a natural process like speech (couldn’t be farther from the truth), and that students will pick up or catch reading the way they do speech (also false). Some students will “get it”, but many others including totally non-ld learners will not learn how to read, as reading is a complex process.
—des